Successive Indian cricket teams complain about boredom in Pakistan

Successive Indian teams have complained about boredom in Pakistan. This one tried to use some imagination to fight it.

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SHEKHAR GUPTA

LahoreDecember 31, 1989

ISSUE DATE: December 31, 1989

UPDATED: November 12, 2013 16:28 IST

For touring cricket teams, the most debilitating psychological factor in Pakistan is neither the reputations of Imran Khan and Abdul Qadir, nor the notorious local umpiring. It is plain boredom.

The solutions have been varied and inventive. The English held wild underwear parties. The Australians put fire-crackers under toilet seats and fired rockets from beer bottles. The West Indians drank themselves silly.

Last fortnight the Indian team and the equally bored Indian press corps came up with another-Sunday Club, a conclave of players and scribes to be held every Sunday or on rest day. The rules: ties to be worn on the head, lipstick smeared liberally, false moustaches and beards. Those not dressed "properly" would be fined by the one-man board-Dicky Rutnagar.

There were no defaults. Srikkanth came in a white beard, Kapil in a salt-and-pepper one and Kiran More in black wig and lipstick. He walked coquettishly across the room to the sound of catcalls. Others made a bee-line to kiss the lipstick-smeared Sanjay Manjrekar. And fittingly, Sachin Tendulkar, too young to need a shave, wore an imposing moustache.

Successive Indian teams have complained about boredom in Pakistan. This one tried to use some imagination to fight it.

The spirit of the team was back. One participant recited a hilarious conversation between Javed Miandad and Madan Lal. Kiran More did a demonstration of Srikkanth walking into the wrong dressing-room. Another recounted an unprintable exchange between Imran and Akram Raza who let a flick go through his legs.

Kapil talked of those whose "English is worse than even mine". The finale was fitting: pure calypso. Everyone sang Calcutta-based cricket writer Mudar Patherya's lyrics to the tune of Lord Relator's famous Caribbean tribute to Sunil Gavaskar and his team-mates in the 1971 series:

Manindar Singh and RazdanSidhu in a turbanKapil Dev and Ravi ShastriThey helped to fight the seriesAgainst these PakistanisIndia was in all kinds of troubleUntil Waqar Yunus pulled a muscleTendulkar got eight run outWe was in trouble without a doubtAnd then the inevitable chorus:But it was ManjrekarThe real masterJust like a wallThey couldn't out Manjrekar at allNot at allYou know the Pakistanis couldn't outManjrekar at all.

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